title: bcl-2 antisense therapy chemosensitizes human melanoma in SCID mice.
abstract: Malignant melanoma is a prime example of cancers that respond poorly to various treatment modalities including chemotherapy. A number of chemotherapeutic agents have been shown recently to act by inducing apoptosis, a type of cell death antagonized by the bcl-2 gene. Human melanoma expresses Bcl-2 in up to 90% of all cases. In the present study we demonstrate that bcl-2 antisense oligonucleotide treatment improves the chemosensitivity of human melanoma grown in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. Our findings suggest that reduction of Bcl-2 in melanoma, and possibly also in a variety of other tumors, may be a novel and rational approach to improve chemosensitivity and treatment outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schlagbauer-Wadl
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Bryan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Elsas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Eichler
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pehamberger
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D003606:Dacarbazine / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D003606:Dacarbazine